Dubai: Marine experts in the UAE may soon be able to identify critical marine habitats after gathering data from turtles they have tagged to study their migration and feeding patterns for the Gulf Green Turtle Conservation Initiative.
The conservation initiative, launched in May 2016, is a public-private partnership that aims to safeguard the marine environment of the Arabian Gulf and the surrounding sea.
These agencies are the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, tOman Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), Environment Protection and Development Authority in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah, Environment Society of Oman, Five Oceans Environmental Services and the Marine Research Foundation and the Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF).
Since its launch, EWS-WWF has successfully tagged 24 green turtles off the beaches of the UAE and Oman with satellite transmitters. Marine experts are in the process of studying the data and identifying critical marine habitats to conserve endangered marine species.
Eng Mariam Mohammad Saeed Hareb, assistant undersecretary of Environmental Affairs and Nature Conservation Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, said the conservation of the UAE’s ecosystems is pivotal in the country’s quest to preserve its natural and cultural heritage.
“The importance of the Gulf Green Turtle Conservation initiative is multi-fold and will enable us to build bridges to further strengthen our national and regional efforts to address the conservation of this key species in the UAE…”, Hareb said.
Marine turtles fulfil important roles in marine ecosystems, hence the need to protect them, Marina Antonopoulou, Marine Programme Leader at EWS-WWF, said.
“Seagrasses — on which green turtles feed -—also happen to be among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, providing a nursery for many species of invertebrates and fish. It is therefore essential to safeguard this flagship species and the habitats they and many other marine species rely on,” Antonopoulou said, adding more support and funding are needed to strengthen efforts on marine turtle conservation in the region.
The turtles tagged in the waters around Bu Tinah Island, Ras Al Khaimah, as well as Ras Al Hadd and Ras Al Jinz enabled marine experts to record observations such as post-nesting female turtles in Oman that have been showing interesting movement patterns across the region. One particular female has travelled fast in a northward direction feeding offshore off the Fujairah coast, highlighting the important ecological connectivity between the Oman Sea and the Arabian Gulf.
With additional funding, experts aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of the ecology needs of green turtles and enable the identification of the marine habitats critical to their survival by 2020.
